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The Art of Diversification

The Meaning of Diversification

Written by R. A. Stewart

Diversification is a word that you will hear in investment circles, particularly when investing in the share market, but what exactly does it mean?

To put it in plain language, Diversification is when you divide all of your money between different asset classes and companies. Your total portfolio may be x amount of dollars; an astute investor will invest a certain amount in power companies, a certain amount in banks, a certain amount in insurance companies, and so on.

We often hear of horror stories whenever a company folds and the one that crops up is that investors lost their entire savings in the one company. Big mistake!

That is leaving all of your eggs in the one basket because you do not know what kind of misfortune will hit any particular company.

Government regulations and the economic cycle are out of the control of the company. 

Then there are trends which will have some influence over the bottom line.

There is no guarantee that whatever occurred in the past will repeat itself in the future.

Investment platforms such as Sharesies, Hatch, and Kernel Wealth in New Zealand and Robin Hood in the US enable the ordinary man and woman in the street to invest with a minimum amount of money. This provides an excellent education tool for people who are willing to increase their financial literacy by taking part in the share market.

There is another method of diversification and that is by investing in managed funds or as they are described in the US, Mutual Funds. This is where your money is combined with that of other investors. It is a case of safety in numbers.

Managed Funds provide investors with three options, Growth Funds, Balanced Funds, and Conservative Funds.

Growth Funds are higher risk, higher growth stocks aimed at long term investors. That is investors who are investing for 10 years or more. The reason why they are more suitable for long term investors is because they have more time to recover from a market meltdown, which is more liable to happen with growth funds. The young ones are more suited to Growth Funds because they have more time to recover from a share market crash.

Conservative Funds are safer with investors unlikely to see the kind of falls occurring in the growth funds but the flip side is that an investment in conservative funds will not grow as fast.

Financial advisors in New Zealand have often stated that young people should invest their retirement savings in growth funds to maximise returns. 

Balanced Funds are a combination of Growth and Conservative Funds. They basically give you the best of both worlds.

Diversification does not mean that you should choose an online investment platform such as Sharesies or Robinhood and invest your whole life savings there. The reason is because there have been instances in the US when these types of online platforms have folded.

Some readers may say, “I know/read about an investor who put all of their money in one company and made a killing.”

My answer to that is, “Greed gets the better of people such as this in the end,”

What is likely to happen is that they will try the same thing again and again and give all of their previous gains back plus a whole lot more.

When you hear stories of so and so making a killing, what you do not hear about are those who tried the same thing and lost all of their money.

Be sensible with your money and you will reap a harvest in the end.

About this article

The contents of this article is of the writer’s own experience and opinion and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances, therefore, discretion is advised. You may use this article as content for your blog/website or ebook.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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Your Financial Risk Profile

Your risk profile is your tolerance to risk when you are investing your money. Your personal circumstances are what determines your risk profile.

To boil it all down to one factor, your timeline is the big factor to consider. If you are young, in your twenties or thirties then you have more time to recover from a market meltdown than someone in their sixties.

This does not necessarily mean that the young ones should invest all of their money in high-risk high return stocks because you could be in your twenties and have a short to medium timeframe with your investments.

It all depends on what you are going to use the money for.

Split it up in three categories:

Short term money is when you need the money for emergencies and everyday living expenses.

Medium term money is when you need the money within 5 years

Long term money is when you do not need the money for more than 5 years

Short term money

Rainy day account

Every day expenses

School fees

Medium term money

Saving for a car

Saving for an overseas holiday

Long term money

Saving for a mortgage

Contributions to your retirement fund

There has never been so many opportunities for the ordinary man and woman

 in the street to get involved in the markets with so many investing apps available.

You can invest in direct companies or in managed funds.

The latter is recommended.

Managed funds come in three categories:

Growth Funds (long term)

Balanced Funds (medium term)

Conservative Funds (short term)

Growth Funds have the most potential to increase your wealth but you have to be patient because investing in the share market is a long-term game.

Balanced funds are a combination of Growth and Conservative Funds.

Conservative funds are less volatile than growth or balanced funds but they have less potential to increase your wealth apart from just keeping ahead of inflation.

Once you have established your timeline for when you need the money then you can choose the appropriate investment.

One thing to add here is that if you have a rainy day or emergency account then this money is best left in an ordinary savings account at your local bank rather than invested in a conservative managed fund and the reason for this is that fees are higher with managed funds than at your local high street bank.

As already mentioned, your age is a factor in your risk profile but does that mean retired people should not invest in growth funds? Not at all, as long as you’re prepared to stomach any market meltdowns which could see your nest egg dwindle. People are living longer these days so a person retiring at 65 may have another 20 years of life ahead of them.

That being said; it is important to enjoy all of the things which money can buy such as life experiences and not just hoard your money for the sake of it.

Every one’s personal situation is unique, and a strategy needs to take all of this into account. Setting goals which are your own is important and not just trying to follow what others are doing. They have their own life to live, and you have yours. 

I am not saying that you should ignore sound wise advice, but rather listen and use your own sound judgment.

Taking responsibility for your own choices in life applies to your finances as well. Obtaining advice on where to invest is not a license to use your advisor as a scapegoat if your investments are not doing as well as you had hoped. Investing requires patience and time.

About this article: You may use this article as content for your blog, website or eBook. This article is of the writer’s opinion and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances therefore discretion is advised.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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Finance Jargon and their meanings

Written by R. A. Stewart

There are terms you will come across regularly whenever you read an article on personal finance and unless you are an experienced investor you may not understand their meaning. I noted some which need explaining which will give you a greater understanding on how they will affect you.

The first one is ‘Risk Profile’

The basically is the level of risk which you are willing to take with your investments. There are several factors which determine your risk profile: they are your health, age, responsibilities, debt level, and your tolerance to risk.

The worst thing which can happen is for your retirement to be just around the corner and you have travel on your mind and then what happens? The markets tumble and because you invested in high risk stuff on the share market you have lost half of your money. A young person can easily recover from such setbacks because they have time on their side, but not so, the oldies.

If your health is in such a state that you are unlikely to make it to retirement age then your strategy needs to be on the conservative side.

New Zealand financial advisor Frances Cook has a formula for working out what percentage of your savings should be in the share market. It is, subtract your age from 100, so if you are aged 60 then just 40% of your savings should be in the share market.  I do know of people whose percentage of exposure to the share market is well above the formula which Frances Cook uses and I am one of them. It is a case of, “I will deal with it if there is a market slump.”

Dividend yield is another terminology I am going to talk about. This is basically the ratio of dividends paid out by the company to its share price. The dividend yield can go up when the stock price goes down. I don’t pay any notice of the dividend yield when choosing which company to invest in. That does not mean that you should ignore the dividend yield, but it is something to consider.

Diversification is an important word in investing circles. This means spreading your money around different companies and different industries to minimize your risk. Investing all of your life savings in just one company is dumb and some people who are considered intelligent let greed get the better of them and lost a lot during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC)..

Compound interest is another one to note. This is when profits on your investment are reinvested and left to compound enabling investors to earn off the profits. Compound interest can increase your wealth considerably. It also works with shares.

Captain Gains is the increase of your capital. Most investments offer the opportunity of capital gains, property, shares, gold, and even art. The factor which drives up price is demand; something is only worth what others are prepared to pay for.

Assets are anything of value which you own such as stocks and shares, property, gold, and anything which produces an income for you. 

Net Worth is the end result of your life’s choices. It is the value of your assets minus any debts you may have. 

On that last point, your financial position can be the result of your stewardship of money. If you want to change any outcomes in your life, then make different choices.

About this article: This article is of the writer’s own opinion and experience and may not be applicable to your personal situation therefore discretion is advised.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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People you should not take Money advice from

Written by R A Stewart

Have you heard of the donkey story where an old man and his grandson were walking the donkey along the street?

If not here is the story:

An old man and his grandson were leading a donkey as they were walking along the road. A bystander said to them, “Why don’t you both get on the donkey and ride it?”

So they both rode the donkey but further down the road the second bystander said, “Hey look at that poor donkey having to carry two people; that is cruelty.”

So the boy got off the donkey and led it along the road while the old man rode it but further down the road, a third bystander said, “look at that poor boy having to walk while that old man is riding the donkey.”

So the old man got off the donkey and his grandson got on, however further down the road, a fourth bystander said, “Look at that poor old man, walking along the road while the lad is riding the donkey.”

So the boy got off the donkey and they both continued their journey as they both led the donkey on foot.

What is the moral of this story?

The short answer is that people can take away your power to think for yourself if you allow them to.

If you have a bit of money to spare there will always be people who think they know what you should do with it and a lot of these people have little or no savings of their own.

Here is an example:

I know someone who years ago made a fortune on sports betting. He turned a few hundred dollars into over thirty grand. In the early stages when he had about six grand his colleagues at work were giving him advice and one was to use the six grand for a deposit on a car. I told him that not only would he be back to square one but he would also have a debt to pay. 

He was sensible enough to ignore stupid advice like that. I did however, tell him that he should at least invest enough into his Kiwisaver account to get the government incentives.

Financial illiteracy is common which means it is vitally important to read books on personal finance and pick the brains of the authors rather than allowing random individuals to infect your mindset.

A bad attitude towards money can be a hindrance of wealth. I once said to a lady that her daughter should attend financial seminars when she is older in order to meet successful men. (She was 9 or 10 at the time). She said, “Men like that are selfish and stingy.”

I suppose if you are a gold digger you would think like that. I mean “who needs financial advice when you can just get a man”

It is worth remembering that some of the best financial writers are women, such as Frances Cook and Mary Holm. They strongly encourage women to take responsibility for their finances rather than just have a man as their financial plan.

The young people may not be your best source of financial advice either because they do not have the experience of investing like the older generation. 

One of the things which the financially illiterate say to reinforce their opinions is “You can’t take it all with you.”

That may be true, however, during one’s lifetime, there are life changing events which require savings. Here is a list:

Flatting 

Buying a car

Going on your Big OE

Further education

Saving for a house

Marriage

Children

Retirement 

Responsible people will get into the habit of saving from a very young age in order to be able to finance whatever crops up during their lifetime when they have the ability to do so. Stupid people will fritter away their discretionary spending money so that when a rainy day comes they have money squirrelled away for something to fall back on.

About this article

You may use this article as content for your ebook, website, or blog. The opinions in the article are of the writer’s own opinion and may not be applicable to your own personal circumstances therefore discretion is advised,

www.robertastewart.com

https://www.robertastewart.com

Your friends can be hindering your financial dreams

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Liabilities: what they are

Liabilities: what they are

Written by R. A. Stewart

A liability is when you have a debt to pay. You are responsible for that debt until it is paid. The opposite of a liability is an asset. It is something which provides some kind of value to you.

An example of a liability is when you have borrowed money from a finance company to purchase a car. You pay a certain amount to the finance company each week or fortnightly. It is a liability because it takes money out of your pocket and reduces your wealth.

An example of an asset is an investment with a finance company which lends out money to car buyers. This is an asset because it puts money into your pocket and increases your wealth.

Borrowing money is not the only type of liability which can reduce your wealth.

Others can be, keeping pets, smoking, drug taking, drinking, hobbies, and so forth.

Have you ever heard of dog owners spending thousands of dollars on vet bills when for just $50 they could have had their pet pooch put down. I know of some people who have spent $1,000 on a vet bill for their cat. If that is not financial stupidity I don’t know what is.

Emotional spending is very costly in the long term.

Borrowing for something which does not give you anything in return is a drain on your future financial welfare. Paying for a holiday is a perfect example. This is something you can do without. If you don’t have the money you don’t go on holiday. It’s as simple as that.

Hobbies can be expensive; have you ever seen those news items on television where some collectors have spent thousands of dollars on their items. Whether it is a doll collector, model train collector, or whatever, these people spare no expense in getting their hands on the next item to add to their list.

Becoming an investor rather than a consumer will help you to be better off financially in the long run. By minimizing your consumer purchases and investing that money instead you will build up an investment portfolio, whether that be in the share market, property, and the like. Stuff doesn’t last long and it loses its value over time.

Investing in yourself will pay dividends in the long run if you apply what you have learned. It is just a matter of applying whatever is applicable to your own life. There is a lot of investment advice on the internet and in books but not everything you read will be applicable to your personal circumstances. Having the ability to discern which advice to follow takes experience.

What you spend your money on today will have an effect on your future lifestyle. It is all about making the right choices in life. Politicians talk a lot about achieving different outcomes for certain groups of people. Personally, I think that it is choices which people need to take responsibility for because the only reason why there are so many different outcomes is because people make different choices.

About this article

This article is of the opinion of the writer and may not be applicable to your own personal circumstances therefore, discretion is advised. You may use this article for content for your website, blog, or ebook.

Www.robertastewart.com